In television receivers commonly in use, various control operations such as turning power on/off, selecting a channel, controlling the volume, and switching to another signal source such as a tape recorder are being performed by the viewer/user using a remote control transmitter (commander).
For the channel selection that is performed frequently, both direct channel selection by means of the so-called 10-keys corresponding to the numbers from "1" to "0" and up-down channel selection by means of, for example, a seesaw type switch or a pair of control buttons that are mechanically independent of each other are practiced.
In the case where both the direct channel selection and the up-down channel selection are practiced with the same commander, the button for the up-down channel selection is disposed in a position of the commander where the button is easily operated and it is often the case that the button is made larger in size.
For controlling the volume, setting of which has a greater degree of freedom and which is frequently controlled, the commander generally has such a control button such as, for example, a seesaw switch which allows up-down volume control by degrees. The control button for volume control is disposed where it is easy to operate, like the up-down channel selection button.
There has so far been given two-way television broadcasting on an experimental basis, in which the broadcasting station side broadcasts television shopping information, questionnairing, quiz programs of audience participation type, and the like, and the viewers send their replies to questions in such programs by telephone or in facsimile. In such two-way broadcasting, it can be considered to enable the viewer to make the reply through the use of the commander.
However, if control buttons for exclusive use for making the reply to the two-way broadcast program are additionally provided on the commander, there arises a problem that the commander becomes larger and, hence, its usability is worsened, or less desirable. Also, such a problem arises that operation mistakes are made by the viewer due to the numerous control buttons/keys.
There has also been made such an operation mistake by the viewer, when a movie program is being broadcast from a television broadcasting station, to mistake it for the one reproduced by a video tape recorder and make such a meaningless or fruitless operation as to push the "fast forward" button.